Please inspire me with 7/8mo foods

[NellyBluth]

DD is 8mo but has only really been eating solids for about a fortnight. She happily takes the spoon now and likes more solid food if you put bite-sized bits in her mouth, rather than feeding herself (she just gets frustrated that she can't get the food in her mouth). She is starting at the CM 1/2 a week next week and we've agreed that we will provide her food, as she is the only baby there and its easier for us to make the purees etc than the CM.

But because she is so new to eating we don't really have any idea what she actively likes and I'm at a bit of a loss what to make! Ideally I'm looking for food that can be batch cooked and frozen so I can take individual portions, rather than foods that need making or might go a bit weird sitting in a lunch box from the night before. She likes fruit and yoghurts so that side of things is easy to take care of.

So far we luckily haven't had any foods rejected. I've made a few different lentil stew-type meals, and tuna fishcakes, but tbh I'm a pretty crap cook and so I'm not filled with any wonderful ideas for her food, and DP and I don't really eat many meals which are suitable for this stage of weaning. Also, I've noticed that she has a rather low boredom threshold and so she prefers a few smaller portions of various food each meal, which is easy to manage at home but feels a little trickier to pack for the CM.

Can anyone suggest any good lunches or dinners that I can make, or batch-cook meals your DC like?

This might not be helpful but DD started nursery at 7mo and ate the same food as all the other children there. They don't do a different meal for babies. Maybe you are being a bit PFB? FYI its standard nursery fare. Lunch is things like cottage pie, chilli, noodles, sweet and sour chicken. Tea is soup, sandwiches etc. Your CM probably has a fridge and microwave. So nothing is too strange to pack if you can reheat. HTH.

They actually have sample menus on the web! Hopefully it can give you some inspirations.

As much as I can be PFB on other things () this was the CM's choice not ours as DD has only been eating for such a short time and is currently happiest with purees and things that resemble more traditional 'baby food'. In a few months time she will probably be eating what the rest do, though the CM has a lot of p/t mindees and from what I have seen I suspect everyone might bring their own food as, bar snacks, fruit etc., its more cost and time effective for everyone to do this.

So basically I was just after suggestions of any food I can make. DP and I don't eat meals like chilli or spag bol that can easily be blended down. I don't really know what I am doing with weaning, really, so just wondered what foods other babies liked at this point...

I would suggest either buying or borrowing a weaning recipe book. Annabel Karmel seems the obvious choice but there are loads out there. Cooking with Coco is another and I think Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's wife has a book out as well.

My DCs liked fish ( cod/ plaice/hake) mashed up in a cheesy sauce, and broccoli in a cheesy sauce too. dD ate loads of lamb stew (bit of tender lamb, stew with carrots, a tiny bit of onion, potato, any root veg really, then blend when cooked ), omelettes ( you can add diced cooked veg too, or frozen veg which is easy and quick), plus mince things like shepards pie or they both liked rice cooked with a tomato sauce mixed in, and you can add a little tuna or cooked chicken if there's some left over. Both liked roasts from 9 months ish and would gum roast potatoes happily for ages.

I second the suggestion of Annabel Karmel too. Her baby and toddler weaning book has a lot of recipes beyond the one veg/fruit puree. It's basically a cookbook for tasty baby/toddler food. You can puree it down for your LO, and slowly work up the lumpyness. The food is decent enough for adults to eat too, if you do fancy spag bols!

And yes, I think MilkRunningOutAgain covers most what my DD nursery cooks .

.my DS went to cm from 7mo he took jars to begin with as like u the cm said that we needed to provide food until he was 1 mainly because of potential allergies. He's 9 months today and sometimes he has what the other kids have she cooks for them sometimes the jars but we make sure he has plenty meat, fruit and veg at home/weekends. Point is I'm the crappest cook ever and have made some AK recipes def recommend her book

I think the BLW Cookbook has some great easy recipes in for the whole family and if you want you can always mash them up for your LO. I'm going to be using some of the recipes in there for a very long time!

DS is almost 9 months and for dinners will eat anything, but usually we will have roast chicken, lemon and tarragon chicken with veg and rice, chilli con carne, shepherds pie, tomato chicken, meatballs and spaghetti, stir fry with egg noodles.

Lunches are usually scrambled eggs on toast, ommelette with cherry tomatoes/spinach/mushrooms, marmite on toast, low salt & sugar beans on toast, sardines on toast, cheese and tomato sandwich, cheese and spinach sandwich. Followed by fruit usually apple, pear or cut up grapes and natural yoghurt.

Breakfasts are usually weetabix or ready brek with a banana.

cherryblossom do you blend all the dinners you list there? I had a really hard time getting ds to eat at that age and I want to avoid making mistakes with dd this time round. I think essentially I did purees for too long and then he didn't want to chew meat. Even now at 3 he is fussy and won't eat pieces of meat. He happily wolfed down pasta and veg and fruit but never got into meat.

Sorry I meant did you blend them to start with not do you blend them now...

Thanks for the suggestions! Figgy, we've been sending her with jars too so far but for some reason that makes me feel bad . But yes, she eats a lot of fruit and veg at home, and she eats things like roast dinner without it being pureed. (Purple, I don't know if this helps but we've been feeding her little bits of roast chicken, tiny bits that don't need much chewing but are enough to give her a sense of more solid food). She will only have one meal a day at the CM's so we can keep going with more solid food at home, but as some weeks she will be at the CM's every day I want to keep going with healthier food when she is there.

Cherry, we have the BLW Cookbook and she eats things like the fishcakes but she only likes more solid food at the moment if you feed her it piece by piece, which obviously the CM doesn't have time to do if she has more than one young mindee. But I hadn't thought about blending it up, I'll try that.

Milk, could you let me know how you made the cheesy fish dish? That sounds really good.

And I'm now heading off to eBay to get the AK book...

I made fish pie last night....
Get a mixed fish selection from tesco or such like; mine had smoked fish, salmon and cod.
Stick in casserole dish. Add juice of half a lemon and dot with butter. 190 in oven for 15 mins
Make a White sauce and add a strong cheese. Tip juice from fish in once it's cooked and stir into sauce.
Chop two boiled eggs and add them in to the fish. Add peas and sweetcorn if you want.
Pour sauce over fish/egg
Top with mashed potato pop sliced tomatoes on top and cover with grated cheese
Back in the oven for 25 mins
Yum!

Hi Purple I started DS off on purées at 17/18 weeks on the doctors ok and stuck with baby rice, vegetables and fruit only. I must admit I got fed up of puréeing and a few days before DS turned 24 weeks I just put down some pasta on his high hair tray to see how he got on and he did gag a little bit to start with, but he managed surprisingly well so I didn't bother to blend things or mash them up.

Nelly even if the childminder hasn't got enough time, I'd use mashed up food, but ask the cm if she could give your little one some finger food to play with/eat as well just to get a feel for it.

I think there are pros and cons to BLW and traditional weaning and I mix and match! Sometimes I can't deal with the mess of BLW and cleaning up the floor 3 times a day so I'll spoon fed something like shepherds pie - plus it's a lot quicker! Sometimes I like DS to feed himself so I can eat at the same time and do the washing up while he finishes off his meal.